The latest selfie by NASA's Perseverance rover at Mars has captured an unexpected guest: a Martian dust devil.

NASA's Perseverance rover has detected the first aurora at Mars that's visible to the human eye.

This Friday evening, starting at 6:10 p.m., get ready for a celestial treat as you’ll be able to see almost every planet in our solar system align.

Six planets grace the sky this month in what’s called a planetary parade.

NASA is pitching a cheaper and quicker way of getting rocks and soil back from Mars.

A new study suggests Mars may be drenched beneath its surface, with enough water hiding in the cracks of underground rocks to form a global ocean.

Mars and Jupiter are cozying up in the night sky for their closest rendezvous this decade.

Four volunteer crew members who spent more than 12 months inside NASA’s first simulated Mars environment at Johnson Space Center in Houston have emerged from the artificial alien enviroment.

Venus and Mars will appear within 1° of each other some mornings this week

Jeff Bezos has filed a statement with federal regulators indicating his sale of nearly 12 million shares of Amazon stock worth more than $2 billion.

Lynchburg-based company BWXT is using nuclear technology to help with NASA's mission to Mars.

An orange tabby cat named Taters stars in the first video sent by laser from deep space, stealing the show as he chases a red laser light.

The MTV Europe Music Awards canceled its ceremony next month, citing the Israel-Hamas War.

The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate jumped this week to its highest level in 20 years.

A European spacecraft around Mars has sent its first livestream from the red planet to Earth to mark the 20th anniversary of its launch.

Attention skywatchers! Tonight, May 23, you can look up to the sky and see Mars and Venus.

A new study suggests water on Mars may be more widespread and recent than previously thought.

A spacecraft around Mars has sent back close-up photos of the red planet's little moon.

There's a special chance this week to see five planets lined up in the night sky.

Some planets will be easier to see than others in late March

A comet is streaking back our way after 50,000 years.

Mars says it’s pausing using its trademark M&M’s spokescandies and has enlisted actor and comedian Maya Rudolph to star in its marketing efforts.

It could be the end of the red dusty line for NASA's InSight lander on Mars.

A NASA rover on Mars by chance had its microphone on when a whirling tower of red dust passed overhead last year and caught the sound.

Homebuilders have pumped the brakes on new single-family home construction this year, a trend that’s likely to extend into 2023, according to several forecasts.

Big emitters of the heat-trapping gas methane can expect a call from the United Nations starting next year, when the global body launches a new platform to combine existing systems for tracking the potent greenhouse gas from space.

Two NASA spacecraft at Mars have recorded the biggest meteor strikes and impact craters yet.

A rare display of five planets can be seen each morning through the end of the month

A NASA spacecraft on Mars is losing power and is headed for a dusty demise.

Because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Europe will no longer be attempting to send its first rover to Mars this year.

The European Space Agency says the launch this year of a joint mission with Russia to Mars is now “very unlikely” due to sanctions linked to the war in Ukraine.

Toyota says it's working with Japan’s space agency on a vehicle to explore the lunar surface, with ambitions to help people live on the moon by 2040 and eventually live on Mars.

Candy maker Mars is giving a makeover to its six M&M’s characters as a way to promote inclusivity.

Scientists have concluded that a meteorite from Mars contains no evidence of ancient Martian life.

If anyone has a good idea on how to put a nuclear fission power plant on the moon, the U.S. government wants to hear about it.

For the next two weeks, teams commanding the Mars rovers, helicopter and orbiters take a break

The United Arab Emirates has announced plans to send a probe to land on an asteroid between Mars and Jupiter to collect data on the origins of the universe.

China's Mars rover is soldiering on after completing its initial program to explore the red planet and search for whether it once supported life.

NASA’s newest Mars rover has come up empty in its first attempt to pick up a rock sample to eventually be brought back to Earth.

This conjunction will be visible in the western sky several nights this week

NASA is teaming up with the maker of Tide to figure out how to do laundry in space.

The dusty, rocky Martian surface and a Chinese rover and lander bearing small national flags were seen in photos the rover took on the red planet.

NASA's little Mars helicopter is safely on the ground following a wild, lurching ride caused by a navigation timing error.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has picked a date to step down as CEO.

China has landed a spacecraft on Mars for the first time in the latest step forward for its ambitious space program.

China says its Mars probe and accompanying rover are expected to land on the red planet sometime between Saturday and Wednesday Beijing time.

Space-related news is not just flowing from the world’s richest, biggest nations.

NASA's little Mars helicopter is getting an extra month of flying.

China says it will launch its next robot lunar lander in 2024, and it will carry equipment from France, Sweden, Russia and Italy.

China's space agency says its first Mars rover will be named Zhurong after a traditional fire god.

SpaceX has launched its third crew in under a year for NASA, this time using a recycled rocket and capsule.

NASA's little Mars helicopter has aced its second test flight.

Mars’ thin atmosphere makes it a very cold planet compared to Earth

A visitor to an exhibition looks at a display with a replica of the Chinese Mars Rover of the Tianwen-1 spacecraft in Beijing on March 12, 2021. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)BEIJING – As their respective spacecrafts headed to Mars, China and the U.S. held consultations earlier this year in a somewhat unusual series of exchanges between the rivals. China's National Space Agency confirmed Wednesday that it had working-level meetings and communications with NASA from January to March “to ensure the flight safety" of their crafts. U.S. law bans almost all contacts between NASA and China over concerns about technology theft and the secretive, military-backed nature of China’s space program. China's Tianwen-1 is orbiting Mars in preparation for a landing in May or June.

7, 2021 photo provided by NASA shows tire tracks left by the Mars Perseverance rover. The rover has sent back the first-ever sounds of driving on the red planet. “If I heard these sounds driving my car, I’d pull over and call for a tow,” Dave Gruel, an engineer on the rover team, said in a written NASA statement. This second mike didn't pick up any sounds of the rover's arrival at Mars, but managed to record the first test drive March 4. The driving audio contains a unexpected high-pitched scratching noise, according to NASA.

China and Russia said they will build a lunar research station, possibly on the moon's surface, marking the start of a new era in space cooperation between the two countries. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)BEIJING – China and Russia said they will build a lunar research station, possibly on the moon's surface, marking the start of a new era in space cooperation between the two countries. A statement posted on the website of the China National Space Administration Wednesday said the International Lunar Research Station would also be open to use by other countries, but gave no timeline for its construction. Russia is a participant in the International Space Station but its space program has been somewhat eclipsed by those of China, the U.S., India and others. AdChina has planned four crewed missions this year to work on its first permanent orbiting space station, the core module of which could be launched as soon as next month.

This photo made available by NASA was taken during the first drive of the Perseverance rover on Mars on Thursday, March 4, 2021. (NASA/JPL-Caltech via AP)CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – NASA’s newest Mars rover hit the dusty red road this week, putting 21 feet on the odometer in its first test drive. The Perseverance rover ventured from its landing position Thursday, two weeks after setting down on the red planet to seek signs of past life. AdPerseverance — NASA's biggest and most elaborate rover yet — became the ninth U.S. spacecraft to successfully land on Mars on Feb. 18. China hopes to land its smaller rover — currently orbiting the red planet — in another few months.

The U.S. has blamed the militia for numerous attacks targeting U.S. personnel and interests in Iraq in the past. But several leading members of Congress, including members in Biden’s own party, denounced the strikes — the first military action he has authorized. Kaine and others argued offensive military action without congressional approval is not constitutional absent extraordinary circumstances. A U.S. contractor died after at least 10 rockets slammed into the base early Wednesday. “If we assess further response is warranted, we will take action again in a manner and time of our choosing,” Psaki said.

President Joe Biden congratulates NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory Mars 2020 Perseverance team for successfully landing on Mars during a virtual call in the Roosevelt Room at the White House, Thursday, March 4, 2021. Biden speaking in video conference call with the leadership of space agency’s jet propulsion laboratory team expressed awe over the Feb. 18 landing of Perseverance. Ad“It’s so much bigger than landing Perseverance on Mars," Biden told members of the NASA team. Ad“We can land a rover on Mars, we can beat a pandemic," Biden said. The NASA team landing on Feb. 18 marked the third visit to Mars in just over a week.

China says a cohort of astronauts have been selected and are in training to carry out four crewed missions this year as the country works to complete its first permanent orbiting space station. (CNSA via AP)BEIJING – China said Thursday a cohort of astronauts is training for four crewed missions this year as the country works to complete its first permanent orbiting space station. Two other modules will be launched later, along with four Tianzhou cargo supply mission and the four Shenzhou crewed missions. CNSA listed 12 astronauts training for the crewed missions, including veterans of previous Shenzhou flights, newcomers and women, though it wasn't clear if there were others selected. Once completed, the permanent space station will allow for stays of up to six months, similar to the International Space Station.

The landing is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort to explore the Red Planet. (2021 NASA)This is the first 360-degree panorama taken by Mastcam-Z, a zoomable pair of cameras aboard NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSSThis shows the rim of Jezero Crater as seen in the first 360-degree panorama taken by the Mastcam-Z instrument aboard NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover (Feb. 24, 2021). AdNASA’s Mars Perseverance rover acquired this image using its Rover Down-Look Camera. The Perseverance Mars rover landed on Mars Feb. 18, 2021.

China says its Tianwen-1 spacecraft has entered a temporary parking orbit around Mars in anticipation of landing a rover on the red planet in the coming months. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)BEIJING – China says its Tianwen-1 spacecraft has entered a temporary parking orbit around Mars in anticipation of landing a rover on the red planet in the coming months. A successful bid to land Tianwen-1 would make China only the second country after the U.S. to place a spacecraft on Mars. AdTianwen, the title of an ancient poem, means “Quest for Heavenly Truth.”Landing a spacecraft on Mars is notoriously tricky. In 2011, a Mars-bound Chinese orbiter that was part of a Russian mission didn’t make it out of Earth orbit.

This combination of images from video made available by NASA shows steps in the descent of the Mars Perseverance rover as it approaches the surface of the planet on Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021. “It gives me goose bumps every time I see it, just amazing,” said Dave Gruel, head of the entry and descent camera team. After spending the weekend binge-watching the descent and landing video, the team at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, shared the video at a news conference. “These videos and these images are the stuff of our dreams," said Al Chen, who was in charge of the landing team. AdSix off-the-shelf color cameras were devoted to entry, descent and landing, looking up and down from different perspectives.

This Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021 photo provided by NASA shows the Perseverance rover lowered towards the surface of Mars during its powered descent. (NASA via AP)CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The world got its first close-up look at a Mars landing on Friday, as NASA released a stunning picture of its newest rover being lowered onto the dusty red surface. NASA equipped the spacecraft with a record 25 cameras and two microphones, many of which were turned on during Thursday’s descent. It's the ninth time that NASA has successfully landed on Mars __ and the fifth rover. As it did with 2012's Curiosity rover — still roaming 2,300 miles (3,750 kilometers) away — NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter photographed Perseverance descending beneath its massive parachute.

Copyright 2021 by WSLS 10 - All rights reserved. Follow NASA’s live feed for the planned landing of the Perseverance probe on Mars. If you need help with the Public File, call 540-512-1558.

This Feb. 10, 2021 image taken by the United Arab Emirates' "Amal," or "Hope," probe was released Sunday, Feb. 14, 2021, shows Mars . The Hope space probe now circles the red planet. (Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center/UAE Space Agency, via AP)DUBAI – The United Arab Emirates on Sunday published the first image for its Mars probe now circling the red planet. It shows Mars' north pole, as well as Mars' largest volcano, Olympus Mons. The probe swung into orbit around Mars on Tuesday in a triumph for the Arab world’s first interplanetary mission.

AdIt used to be -- in the U.S.-- NASA was the only way to fund and send a robotic mission to another world, but not anymore. The company wants to send the first robotic mission to Venus in 2023. (Image credit: Rocket Lab) (Rocket Lab)Meanwhile, NASA is considering funding its own missions to the planet considered Earth’s twin. Currently there are two Venus missions under consideration and two more equally fascinating missions, one designed to study Jupiter’s moon Io and another to Neptune’s moon Triton. AdHere’s what launching a robotic mission to another planet looks like, in a nutshell, according to Wagner:“This is what a typical NASA mission is.

In this screen grab from video posted by SpaceX, the company's Starship launches for a test flight, Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020, in a remote area of Texas. (SpaceX via AP)CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – SpaceX launched its shiny, bullet-shaped, straight-out-of-science fiction Starship several miles into the air from a remote corner of Texas on Wednesday, but the 6 1/2-minute test flight ended in an explosive fireball at touchdown. The full-scale, stainless steel model — 160 feet (50 meters) tall and 30 feet (9 meters) in diameter — soared out over the Gulf of Mexico. The entire flight — as dramatic and flashy as it gets, even by SpaceX standards — lasted six minutes and 42 seconds. “Anybody who knows how hard this stuff is is impressed by today’s Starship test.”Two lower, shorter SpaceX test flights earlier this year from Boca Chica, Texas — a quiet coastal village before SpaceX moved in — used more rudimentary versions of Starship.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The first high-altitude test flight of SpaceX’s futuristic Starship was aborted at the last second in Texas on Tuesday. SpaceX came close to launching a prototype of the rocketship that company chief Elon Musk is designing to carry people to Mars. SpaceX already has conducted five Starship test flights, but these earlier, simpler models have gone no higher than 490 feet (150 meters.) SpaceX has taken over Boca Chica in the far southeastern corner of Texas, near the Mexican border, to build and test its Starships. ___The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education.

The Chang’e 5, the first effort to bring lunar rocks to Earth since the 1970s, collected samples on Wednesday, the Chinese space agency announced. After astronaut Yang Liwei’s 2003 flight, space officials expressed hope for a crewed lunar mission as early as this year. Beijing's space plane would be China's version of the American Space Shuttle and the former Soviet Union’s short-lived Buran. China’s crewed missions have gone ahead without incident. Plans call for a permanent crewed space station as early as 2022.

A Long March-5 rocket carrying the Chang'e 5 lunar mission lifts off at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Wenchang in southern China's Hainan Province, early Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2020. Chang’e 5 — named for the Chinese moon goddess — is the country’s boldest lunar mission yet. If successful, it would be a major advance for China’s space program, and some experts say it could pave the way for bringing samples back from Mars or even a crewed lunar mission. “Scientific needs and technical and economic conditions” would determine whether China decides to send a crewed mission to the moon, said Pei, whose comments were embargoed until after the launch. China’s space program has progressed cautiously, with relatively few setbacks in recent years.

FILE - This image made available by NASA shows the planet Mars. This composite photo was created from over 100 images of Mars taken by Viking Orbiters in the 1970s. NASA is underestimating the amount of time and money it will take to bring Mars rocks back to Earth in the coming decade, an independent panel said Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2020. (NASA via AP)CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – NASA is underestimating the amount of time and money it will take to bring Mars rocks back to Earth in the coming decade, an independent panel said Tuesday. Already more than halfway to Mars, NASA’s Perseverance rover will hunt for the best geologic samples, after landing in February.

ROANOKE, Va. – If you notice a non-blinking red ‘star’ in the night sky the next few weeks, that would be our solar system’s next-door neighbor, Mars! Mars is actually at its closest point to us (perigee) in its orbit around the sun Tuesday evening. This is the closest Mars has been to us in nearly two years, and it won’t get this close again until 2035. Now, Mars won’t be at its brightest until October 13th when it’s at opposition (directly opposite the sun). Whereas our orbit lasts 365 days, it takes Mars 687 days to make a complete lap around the sun.

Mars will appear brighter than at any other point during the year on Oct. 13, when it will be closest to Earth. “So, a little over every two years, Mars and Earth are closest together in their orbits and, thus, Mars is at its brightest in our nighttime sky. (© 2012 Michael Orso)Blue moon on HalloweenFor the first time since 2001, trick-or-treaters will get the chance to experience a Halloween full moon. A blue moon, by the most popular definition, according to Gross, is when two full moons appear in a single month. “We will have full moons on Oct. 1 and 31, so that means that we’ll have a blue moon on Halloween,” Gross said.

ROANOKE, Va. – This time last year, we were breaking record high temperatures. Fast forward to 2020, and autumn is actually behaving like autumn. Forecast high temperatures for Friday, 10/2/2020A clear sky at night and a calming wind will allow the limited warmth to escape, leading to a colder night ahead. Not included in the graphic below are Jeter Farm, Layman Farms, Williams Orchard, Johnson’s Orchard and so many more. By Wednesday, high temperatures will likely be around 75-80°.

BEIJING – China's Mars probe Tianwen-1, which blasted into space in July, is now more than 15 million kilometers (9 million miles) from Earth en route to the red planet, the National Space Administration said Saturday. The administration said that Tianwen-1 was in stable condition, having completed its first mid-course orbital correction early last month. It will be about 195 million kilometers (118 million miles) from Earth when it arrives at Mars around February, having traveled 470 million kilometers (292 million miles) in all to get there. The administration, however, has yet to release information about a mysterious reusable experimental spacecraft that returned to Earth a week ago after a two-day flight. Last year, China's Chang’e-4 became the first spacecraft from any country to land on the far side of the moon.

Elon Musk isn't content with electric cars, shooting people into orbit, populating Mars and building underground tunnels to solve traffic problems. His startup, Neuralink, wants to one day implant computer chips inside the human brain. In a video demonstration Friday explicitly aimed at recruiting new employees, Musk showed off a prototype of the device. Neuralink wants to build on those existing medical treatments as well as one day work on surgeries that could improve cognitive functioning, according to a Wall Street Journal article on the company's launch. That might be an easier sell than the Neuralink device, which would require recipients to agree to have the device implanted in their brain, possibly by a robot surgeon.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. SpaceX launched a prototype of its Mars rocketship hundreds of feet into the air, then landed it upright in a successful test flight. Mars is looking real, SpaceX founder and chief executive Elon Musk tweeted after the short hop. Progress is accelerating.Musk said several more short hops are planned before a test version of Starship aims for a high altitude. On Sunday, SpaceX safely returned two NASA astronauts from the International Space Station following a two-month test flight. We're going to send people to Mars and make life multi-planetary," Musk said following splashdown.

China will launch their Mars rover and an orbiter sometime around July 23, 2020, in a mission named Tianwen, or Questions for Heaven. The Long March-5 carrier rocket is Chinas heaviest-lift launch vehicle and has been launched experimentally three times, but never with a payload. Dubbed Tianwen-1, Chinas first-ever mission to Mars aims to land a rover to gather scientific data. The mission is one of the most ambitious yet for Chinas space program, which has advanced rapidly since launching its first crewed mission in 2003. Chinas last attempt at a Mars mission in collaboration with Russia ended in failure in 2011.

(NASA/JPL-Caltech via AP)CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. NASAs next Mars rover is honoring all the medical workers on the front lines of the coronavirus battle around the world. With just another month until liftoff, the space agency on Wednesday revealed a commemorative plate attached to the rover, aptly named Perseverance. The rover team calls it the COVID-19 Perseverance plate, designed in the last couple months. If the rover isn't launched by mid-August, it would need to wait until 2022 when Earth and Mars are back in proper alignment. The United Arab Emirates and China also are preparing spacecraft for launch to the red planet by mid-August.

Amateur astronauts, private space stations, flying factories, out-of-this-world movie sets this is the future the space agency is striving to shape as it eases out of low-Earth orbit and aims for the moon and Mars. But the future is incredibly exciting, NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren said the day before SpaceXs historic liftoff. The ticket price which includes 15 weeks of training and more than a week at the space station is about $55 million. Beginning in 2024, Axiom plans to build its own addition to the 260-mile-high (420-kilometer-high) outpost to accommodate its private astronauts. SpaceX still has to get NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken safely back to Earth this summer in its Dragon capsule.

Now, the geologist and professor is studying an extensive landslide on Mars, almost 250 miles wide, that formed about 400 million years ago. Schmitt and fellow NASA astronaut Eugene Cernan were the last men to walk on the moon with the Apollo 17 mission. "Flow initiation and mechanisms on the Moon may be very different from Mars; however, comparisons often help geologists to understand comparable features." In the case of the Martian landslide, they believed that a rapid landslide may have occurred due to layers of unstable and fragmented rock beneath the surface. "The impact redistribution of materials in the lunar environment has modified features that ultimately may be found to resemble those documented in the Martian landslide study," Schmitt said.

SpaceX via CNN(CNN) - The rocket and spacecraft at the center of Elon Musk's plan to colonize Mars could fly humans into orbit within one year and cost billions of dollars less than he once predicted. Both the spacecraft and rocket are expected to be reusable, which Musk said is the only way to make the vehicle affordable. "In almost any motor transport whether it's a plane or car, a horse, or bicycle it's reusable," Musk said. So the critical breakthrough that's necessary is a rapidly reusable orbital rocket." Some have suggested that even Musk's earlier estimate that it would cost $10 billion was likely low-balling what it would actually cost.

(CNN) - Snickers just got a fall-themed update, just in time for pecan pie season. Mars, which makes the candy bar, debuted a Snickers Pecan Bar on Wednesday, conjuring up all sorts of chocolate pecan pie vibes. We might have too many Snickers bars, honestly. The idea for this particular bar came from fans, with the company asking customers what nut they would like to see next. The Snickers Pecan Bar is also one of the only Snickers bars that doesn't include peanuts.

Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya celebrates at the victory ceremony winning the BMW Berlin Marathon 2017 on September 24, 2017 in Berlin, Germany. What Kipchoge is doing is taking gravity out of the equation," Tucker told CNN Sport. I am already the record holder for marathon but I need to do this for the human family." Running, especially marathon running, is supposed to be the purest thing humans put themselves through. Whether Kipchoge's attempt is as revolutionary as a moon landing or more akin to high jumping on Mars is a matter of opinion.

NASA's Deep Space Atomic Clock, the first GPS-like technology for deep space, started its one-year space mission on Aug. 23, 2019. The appropriately named Deep Space Atomic Clock was successfully activated last week after it launched in June, NASA said. An atomic clock must be hyper-precise for travel through deep space, where everything is bigger and mistakes quickly can add up. Ordinary atomic clock just won't doGPS satellites that orbit Earth use atomic clocks for precise time-keeping, NASA said, but those aren't made to withstand forces in space that can mess with their accuracy. But NASA's Deep Space Atomic Clock is up to 50 times more stable than standard atomic clocks because it's powered by mercury ions.

Venus and Mars are currently blocked from our view by the sun, but this week is a great chance to catch Jupiter and Saturn in conjunction with the moon. The nearly full moon will appear very close to Jupiter on the night of August 9. Like Jupiter, Saturn will also appear in the sky once night falls and be visible until dawn, east of Jupiter. On the evening of August 11, the moon will appear to the right of Saturn and then on its left on August 12. Other tribes also called it the "moon when all things ripen" the "blueberry moon" or the "wheat cut moon."

Five years ago and 154 million miles away, NASA's Curiosity Mars rover successfully landed on the planet. (CNN) - NASA's Curiosity rover has been acting as our detective on Mars this summer and investigating an area once full of streams and lakes on the red planet. Now, Curiosity is investigating the clay minerals left behind after the water disappeared. During its mission, Curiosity has encountered the most amount of clay minerals on Mount Sharp. The minerals were first detected by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter years before Curiosity launched.

(CNN) - A prototype of SpaceX's Mars rocket roared to life Thursday night, lifting the vehicle into the air for a landmark test. SpaceX's goal was to lift the spacecraft about 65 feet into the air before gently landing it nearby what's SpaceX called a "hop test." Footage captured by reporters present at the South Texas launch site show fire and smoke erupting from Starhopper's massive Raptor rocket engine, obscuring the vehicle from view. Musk tweeted that SpaceX will next attempt a 200 meter, or 650 foot, hop test "in a week or two." Musk said the hop test was called off because the fuel was "colder than expected," causing an issue with pressure levels inside the vehicle.

NASA has dubbed this path back to the moon Artemis, after Apollo's twin sister in Greek mythology. NASA is calling this the Artemis program in honor of Apollo's twin sister in Greek mythology, the goddess of the Moon. Other factors of the design represent the Earth, the moon and our trajectory from the moon to Mars. Currently, the focus is on the moon, but NASA sees these concepts as workable for a Mars mission, as well. Astronauts will launch on Artemis 2, and the first woman and next man to walk on the moon will launch on Artemis 3.

Nicole said that if she really wanted to be an astronaut, Abby would need to do the research to figure out what was necessary to achieve her dream. Nicole helped her open the Astronaut Abby account on Twitter to get a quote from NASA for an 8th grade project on the International Space Station. The Twitter account led to the creation of her brand as Astronaut Abby. The Mars GenerationA couple of years later, Abby founded her nonprofit organization called The Mars Generation. Since its creation, the Mars Generation has been able to send more than 40 students to Space Camp on scholarship.

The team, with specialties in chemistry and engineering, have been tasked with measuring the size and electrical charge of dust on Mars, according to a BYU press release. The detail may not seem very important, but a lack of thorough understanding of the planet's dust could make human missions to Mars by NASA very dangerous. "Dust on Mars is important to the weather patterns on Mars," Aaron Hawkins, professor and chair of the BYU Engineering department, told KSL.com. They are creating a mass spectrometer with printed circuit boards specialized to determine the charge, mass and velocity of Martian dust particles. "This work is being funded by NASA and it's part of a program where we propose to build instruments that they would use for actual missions," Hawkins said.